Gillespie dismissed South African openers Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten in his first two overs and then picked up the prize wicket of Jacques Kallis to have South Africa 23 for three at one stage. And when Ian Harvey picked up the wicket of Jonty Rhodes, South African had been reduced to 56 for four 15 overs into their innings.

Gillespie took his first wicket with his third ball when Gibbs tried to turn him to leg and the leading edge carried to Matthew Hayden in the gully. Gibbs had not scored and the first wicket had fallen with just one run on the scoreboard.

Kirsten fell in Gillespie’s next over, caught off the glove down the leg side as he tried to hook the fast bowler. He made only 2 with South Africa now 2 for two.

South African supporters had to wait until the sixth over for the first boundary of the innings when Dippenaar pulled Gillespie for four, but the South Australian came back to trap Kallis lbw for 8 in the 10th over.

He should have had a fourth wicket in his next over when Damien Martyn at first slip dropped a waist high catch off Dippenaar, then on 15.

Dippenaar celebrated his letoff by glancing Ian Harvey for four to fine leg when the Victorian replaced Glenn McGrath at the Corlett Drive end and another boundary off the last ball enabled the South Africans to take 12 off Harvey’s first over.

A wide from Andy Bichel, who replaced Gillespie at the Gold Course end, brought up the South African 50 in the 14th over. Gillespie’s figures after his first spell read 6-0-22-3.

Rhodes fell to the last ball of the 15th over, caught off an outside edge for 13 by Gilchrist as he drove at Harvey. Dippenaar was 27 not out at this stage.

After the first 15 overs of the innings, the tourists were 74 for one, but tight South African bowling and fielding through the last 35 overs reined the Australians in to leave the home side with a moderate target to chase.

All of the Australian top and middle order got starts, but no one pushed on and there were only two 50 partnerships in the innings – 50 for the first wicket between Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden and 63 for the fourth wicket between Damien Martyn and Darren Lehmann.

The fourth wicket stand came to an end when Roger Telemachus was brought back into the attack. He had conceded 26 off his first three overs, but proved far more effective in his second spell and, after an exchange of views with Lehmann, found the outside edge for Mark Boucher to take a fine one-handed catch going to his left.

Lehmann’s 37, joint top score for the innings with Gilchrist, came off 53 balls with the fourth wicket going down at 149.

The fifth wicket fell seven runs later with Telemachus again the bowler. This time he squeezed one between bat and pad to bowl Martyn for 24 at 156 for five.

Michael Bevan and Ian Harvey lifted the score to 187 before Bevan was sixth out, run out for 18 by Jonty Rhodes’ direct hit at the bowler’s end as the Australian pair tried to steal a quick single.

Harvey went on to make 19 before he slogged Makhaya Ntini down the throat of Jacques Kallis at long on at 195 for seven. The wicket fell in Ntini’s last over and he ended with excellent figures of 10-2-24-3.

Andy Bichel brought up the Australian 200 in the 48th over of the innings with a two as Jacques Kallis came back for the death overs. There was some late aggression from Bichel who heaved Shaun Pollock over the stands at cow corner in the penultimate over, but the innings closed with Bichel caught at long off by Telemachus off Kallis for 19 off the last ball with Jason Gillespie not out on 11.

The visiting team had rushed to 74 for one off the first 15 overs of their innings, but two wickets in close succession brought two new batsmen to the crease and with the fielders out, South Africa were able to stem the run rate.

Australia lost Matthew Hayden just as the left-hander seemed to be getting into his stride. He had laid into Jacques Kallis when Kallis replaced Shaun Pollock at the Corlett Drive end, but when Hayden threw his bat into a savage cut, Jonty Rhodes took an extraordinary catch at point, diving to his right to take the ball one-handed.

Hayden went for 27 at 84 for two and only two more were added to the total before Makhaya Ntini picked up his second catch of the innings, Nicky Boje holding a well-judged catch on the midwicket boundary when Ricky Ponting pulled a short one.

The Australia captain made 14 and at 86 for three, the tourists needed to rebuild through Martyn and Lehmann. Ntini was rested after a superb seven-over spell which brought him two for 14 and Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje were generally tight, although when Klusener tried to bounce Lehmann, he found himself pulled savagely for four.

After 30 overs, the fourth wicket partnership was worth 36 to Australia.

Ntini, who was surprisingly not given the new ball, was brought into the attack after Adam Gilchrist launched a savage assault on Roger Telemachus who conceded 26 off his first three overs.

Gilchrist had signalled his intentions off the second ball of the day when he whipped Shaun Pollock off his hip past square leg for four, but it was Telemachus, back in the one-day side for the first time this summer who bore the brunt of Gilchrist’s onslaught.

Ntini, however, immediately blocked up the run flow from the Golf Course end with a pair of overs to Gilchrist, at one point the Australian vice captain was denied a run when his drive struck Matthew Hayden on the leg down at the other end.

The first run off Ntini came in his third over when a single from Hayden brought up the Australian 50, but Ntini struck with his next delivery when Gilchrist pulled a short one to Nicky Boje at midwicket.

Gilchrist’s 37 came off 44 balls and included seven fours with Hayden’s contribution to the partnership amounting to eight.

Hayden shifted up a gear after Gilchrist’s departure, welcoming Jacques Kallis into the attack with three boundaries off four balls as Pollock rested himself after 23 had been taken off his six-over opening burst.

When the fielding restrictions were lifted, Hayden had 23 with Ponting on 6.

The Australians had been forced to make a late adjustment to their side when Shane Warne was ruled out for the first two games of the series with a right hamstring strain. His absence gives 20-year-old off spinner Nathan Hauritz his first cap.

"To get the call-up is amazing and a surprise but a pleasant one,” said Hauritz.

"I only found out on Thursday evening that Warney was injured and that's the reason I'm in.

"When I was picked for the tour I was hoping to play one game, but if I didn't then that wouldn't have bothered me because just to come on the tour with the group of players in this squad is a great experience for me and I'm keen to learn as much as I can from everyone around me.

"It's now up to me to show them what I can do.

"My aim is just to bowl well and try not to get overawed, just to try and relax and enjoy it.

"The most people I've played in front of is about 12,000 so this is going to be a big experience for me but I'll speak to a few players ahead of the game, including Warney, about what to expect." said Hauritz.

South Africa made one change from the side that eclipsed New Zealand in the VB Series finals in Australia earlier in the year, bringing Roger Telemachus in for the injured Allan Donald.

South Africa: Shaun Pollock (capt), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Boeta Dippenaar, Mark Boucher, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Makhaya Ntini, Roger Telemachus.

Australia: Ricky Ponting, (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Bevan, Ian Harvey, Andrew Bichel, Nathan Hauritz, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath.